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Telescope suggestions please

Deadhead

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Deadhead

Deadhead

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Hi. I am about to upgrade from my first scope - a National Geographic reflector which the wife bought for my birthday in September. It works surprisingly well but is very wobbly on it's cheapo aluminium mount. I want to be able to see deep space objects nice and clear and move on to imaging within a relatively short period of time. I want to learn my way around the sky so I'm thinking of avoiding Goto for now. I'm probably going to spend about £300 and if I can get a good deal on an eyepiece set, so much the better. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I live just West of Cardiff and there doesn't seem to be many retail outlets in this area where I can go and browse first hand.

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DOBBY

DOBBY

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I'm not 100% sure... but, I don't think you will get a sturdy tripod & mount for £300 for imaging...given that some sort of tracking will be needed.

you could however get yourself a decent Dobsonian for your budget...& then mount it at a later date

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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I'm not 100% sure... but, I don't think you will get a sturdy tripod & mount for £300 for imaging...given that some sort of tracking will be needed.

you could however get yourself a decent Dobsonian for your budget...& then mount it at a later date

That would be my advice too.

Regards Steve

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Carl M

Carl M

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Another vote for a dobsonian, the 200P would be in your price range and will have plenty of aperture for you to view deep sky objects. You can still image using a webcam with the dobson but it will be limited to lunar and planetary. As others have said, you would need an Equatorial mount with some sort of tracking to image deep sky objects.

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Mr Q

Mr Q

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Deadhead - A great way to learn the constellations is to use a planisphere each night you go out. A quick and easy way to start doing this is to go to "Skymaps.com". There you can download and print out each month's map and it's free. Lots of info on naked eye, binocular and telescopic objects to observe each month. At the site, you can purchase a planisphere that covers the whole year as well as great books on stargazing.

Wishing you and Chris many clear, dark skies.

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UHF

UHF

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I say if u park the imaging for now you cant go wrong with an 8" newtonian, either on a dobsonian or eq mount, eq will be more expensive.

Ive just started up with the skywatcher explorer 200p with the eq5 mount, quite chunky to store but performs well. You can then always invest in a heavy duty tracking mount later on. If you want to learn your way around, dont get a goto, you can buy more aperture tbis way and get a better setup at the expense of having to invest more time.

Anyway, im new too, but thats my take on things so far

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

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rowan46

rowan46

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can I suggest that if you are determined to get into imaging dso's that you get this book first it will save you a bomb in the long run

First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards

You are right you can't image dso's on a dob but to be frank I don't know of a new mount for £300 suitable for a beginner to learn to image on and believe me I have been looking for a long time.

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Deadhead

Deadhead

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Thanks for the replies. After a chat with the wife it looks like I'm going to be allowed to spend a little extra and I will probably go for the 200mm Skywatcher Explorer. I've done quite a lot of research on it today (as well as the Dobs) and it seems to offer a lot for the money and I like the upgrade potential. I'm willing to take things one step at a time. I downloaded Stellarium and can't get enough of it!

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Rigel-7

Rigel-7

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I currently have the same dilemma and am frantically trying to get up to speed. What seems to be missing is a site with the sort of images you could expect to see and image with the telescope, it's a complete nightmare trying to find them on Google.

If such a site exists and somebody can help please post !

Without trying to hijack this thread I have a £500 LIMIT, must transport the scope to dark skies (only 30 minutes away) and am looking not to have to sell what I buy. Reflectors need to be collimated, dobs are too big which leaves me with a Mak127 on an EQ5, or an Evostar / Celestron 120 on EQ5.

If the hobby persists was looking at a Mak Newt (Comet Hunter in carbon fibre) or an Orion 80 for DSO imaging later which should be ok on an EQ5. The mount can also be upgraded to Goto for a further £300.

This is a far harder decision than buying a car or a house !

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